SXSW 07: Skills Like This

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First Look Review: A frustrated writer discovers that his true talent is robbery.

By Cindy White

The winner of the audience award for best narrative feature at this year's South by Southwest film festival, Skills Like This is a quirky little film that relies heavily on charm to make up for some rather glaring flaws in story, pacing and character. Fortunately, it has charm to spare.

The movie's concept is a simple one that's taken perhaps a bit too far. Max (played by screenwriter Spencer Berger) comes to the realization that he will never be a great writer after his grandfather falls ill during one of his poorly written plays. When one of his buddies makes a joke about robbing the bank across the street, he considers how easy it would be. He excuses himself and heads into the bank, wearing sunglasses and a ski cap. Pointing the security guard's gun at himself, he tells an attractive and collected teller to put some money in a bag for him, which she does. He runs out with the bag and returns to his friends at the restaurant, who can't believe what he's just done.

The successful heist causes a change in Max, who believes he's finally found his calling in thievery. He quickly becomes addicted to it, and somehow never gets caught, but it's not about the money, or even the thrill of living outside the law. Max steals because he can. This worries his uptight friend Dave (Gabriel Tigerman, who also gets a "story by" credit on the film), who begs him to turn himself in and return the money. But Max's other friend, Tommy (Brian Phelan), thinks it's the coolest thing he's ever heard.

Emboldened by his newfound passion, Max isn't even thrown when he runs into the teller, Lucy (Kerry Knuppe), again at a bar. Not only does he convince her not to go to the police, he goes home with her and spends the night. He falls hard and fast for Lucy, but his little habit starts to get in the way. It also causes trouble for Dave and Tommy, who happen to be along for the ride when he decides on a whim to rob a fast-food drive-thru. Max soon comes to the difficult realization that he's going to have to choose between the people he cares about and the only thing he's ever been good at.

Skills Like This is a fun movie to watch if you don't stop to think about it. It's very funny in spots, and the actors have a great, bantery rapport with each other, but Max doesn't come off as a particularly good thief, as the film would have us believe. Or maybe he's the only one who believes it, and that's the point. Either way, in real life he'd have been caught within seconds of the first robbery. That he could escape into a restaurant directly across the street, wearing the same clothes, stretches the boundaries of believability a bit. But if you accept the film as pure fantasy, and its central conceit as a given, it's a ride worth taking.

Despite an opening full of humor and momentum and a conclusion that is both thrilling and satisfying, the film breaks down almost irredeemably in the middle. The action slows down and the focus is drawn away from Max to an oddball subplot centered around his two friends, as Tommy drags Dave around town from one disastrous job interview to another. Phelan's comic performance as the enthusiastic but dim-witted Tommy earns some of the biggest laughs in the film (impressed by Max's laid-back attitude towards stealing, he tells him, "You're Red Robin!" though he really means Robin Hood) and Tigerman serves him well as his exasperated straight-man sidekick, but their story ultimately feels like lightweight filler to take up pages in the script. While there is a weak thematic link to Max's search for himself and what to do with his life, Dave and Tommy's adventures just aren't meaty enough to keep the film from dragging when they're on screen.

As Max, Berger is understated and charismatic. Wearing an enormous fro throughout most of the film, his dry, cool delivery makes the character likable though he may be engaged in criminal acts. He fits right in with the grand Hollywood tradition of glorifying crime and those who choose to live outside the rules of society. A character like Max needs to be someone you want to root for -- misguided though he may be -- and Berger gives him that likable quality. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that he wrote the script and so he understands the character better than anyone.

Commercial director Monty Miranda makes his feature debut here and gives the film a stylish look and feel that's slightly rough around the edges. His best creative choice was to populate the soundtrack with great indie bands that deserve some recognition. For that reason alone, it's no wonder the film was a hit with South by Southwest audiences.